Wellhead based well control arrangement for upper plug and abandonment operations and method

ABSTRACT

A wellhead based well control arrangement including a pressure control head having a gripping element configured to grip an outside surface of a well head and a seal element configured to seal against an inside surface of the same well head, a perforating, packer, and circulation mandrel extending from the pressure control head. A method for controlling a well at a well head for plugging and abandonment operations including running an arrangement as above into engagement with a well head, engaging the gripping element to an outside surface of the wellhead, sealing the seal element to an inside surface of the well head, and setting a packer of the mandrel.

BACKGROUND

Hydrocarbon wells have finite lives. At the end of a useful life of awell, plug and abandonment operations are undertaken to ensure the wellremains shut in permanently. Such operations generally include cementplugging the well to a level at which cementing is possible and thenemploying a well abandonment tool such as a WASP™ well abandonmentstraddle packer commercially available from Baker Hughes Incorporated tocement casing strings in the well head. The tools work well for theirintended purpose. Nevertheless, the art is always interested in improvedtools.

SUMMARY

A wellhead based well control arrangement including a pressure controlhead having a gripping element configured to grip an outside surface ofa well head and a seal element configured to seal against an insidesurface of the same well head, a perforating, packer, and circulationmandrel extending from the pressure control head.

A method for controlling a well at a well head for plugging andabandonment operations including running an arrangement as discussed inthe immediately preceding paragraph into engagement with a well head,engaging the gripping element to an outside surface of the wellhead,sealing the seal element to an inside surface of the well head, andsetting a packer of the mandrel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way.With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numberedalike:

The FIGURE is a schematic cross section view of a wellhead based wellcontrol arrangement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosedapparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification andnot limitation with reference to the Figures.

Referring to the FIGURE, a wellhead based well control arrangement 10 isillustrated. One of skill in the art will recognize a wellhead 12 andtwo casing strings 14 and 16 disposed within the wellhead 12 in aconventional way. The arrangement 10 is configured for insertion intoand securement with the wellhead 12. It is to be understood that thediscussion following relates to a portion of an abandonment operationsubsequent to the application of a cement plug in the main ID of thewell (located below the portion illustrated in the FIGURE). One of skillin the art will also find somewhat familiar a perforating, packer, andcirculation mandrel 18 and an inflatable packer 20 since these looksimilar to the prior art well abandonment straddle packer. It is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to use of an inflatabletype packer but rather may also use a noninflatable type packer, ifdesired. Similarity hereafter however is absent. Illustrated in brokenlines only for the purpose of conveying the absence of a component thatis common for prior art straddle packers is identified with numeral 22.This would be an inflatable packer in a prior art device but is not usedin the present invention.

Integral to the mandrel 18 is a pressure control head 24. The pressurecontrol head 24 includes a gripper element 26 (illustrated as aplurality of elements) that is configured to grip an outside surface 30of the well head 12 (such as an industry standard H4 connection) and aseal element 28, an annular compression-type seal, (illustrated as aplurality of seal elements) that is configured to seal against an insidesurface 32 of the wellhead 12. The seal element 28 creates a pressureseal against the inside surface 32 to contain any pressure that mightexist outside either of the casing strings 14 and 16 that may act on thepressure control head 24 following the breaching of the casing strings14 and 16 for cementing purposes during a plugging and abandonmentoperation. The seal element also, of course, prevents circulating fluidleakage past the pressure control head 24. Seal element 28 replaces theseal function of the element 22 from prior art devices. The gripperelement 26 replaces the ancillary function of the element 22 of theprior art to anchor the arrangement 10 in place within the well head 12.It will be understood that the frictional anchoring capability of theelement 22 is relatively lesser while the anchoring capability ofgripping element 26 of the present invention is quite robust. Bydecoupling the sealing function and the anchoring function, bothfunctions have been improved. The gripping element in an embodiment is aring of material dimensioned and positioned to interact with a groove 27on the wellhead 12. As noted, one embodiment is configured forengagement with an H4 connection whether that be on the well head 12itself, or on an ancillary structure such as a Horizontal ChristmasTree, a Vertical Christmas Tree, a blowout preventer stack, a TubingHead Spool, etc. Some of the examples listed may require a lengtheningof the mandrel 18 due to the existence of the additional structurebetween the well head 12 and the arrangement 10 but otherwise theembodiments are substantially the same.

Through the head 24 and mandrel 18 are a circulation line 34 and areturn line 36 having functions identical to the prior art. In use, thearrangement 10 generally follows methods of prior art well abandonmentstraddle packers such as firing a round of perforating guns to breach acasing; circulating cement into the casing and then perforating anothercasing and circulating cement in that casing as well. Circulation beginsdownhole of the inflatable packer 20 and returns to the mandrel 18uphole of the packer 20. Performance of the arrangement is enhanced overthe prior art and accordingly enjoys regulatory approval injurisdictions where a prior art straddle packer does not.

A well may be plugged and abandoned employing the arrangement 10 byrunning the arrangement 10 into well head 12 on a control umbilical 38from surface, engaging the gripping element 26 with the outside surface30 of the well head 12 and sealing the sealing element 28 to the insidesurface 32 of the well head 12 simultaneously. Once the head 24 issecured to the wellhead 12, the inflatable packer 20 is inflated to growradially into contact with an inside surface 40 of casing 14 to sealtherewith. Hereafter use of the arrangement 10 is the same as is themethod for using the prior art well abandonment straddle packer.

Set forth below are some embodiments of the foregoing disclosure:

Embodiment 1

A wellhead based well control arrangement including a pressure controlhead having a gripping element configured to grip an outside surface ofa well head and a seal element configured to seal against an insidesurface of the same well head, a perforating, packer, and circulationmandrel extending from the pressure control head.

Embodiment 2

The arrangement as in any prior embodiment wherein the gripping elementis a ring.

Embodiment 3

The arrangement as in any prior embodiment wherein the gripping elementis a plurality of gripping elements.

Embodiment 4

The arrangement as in any prior embodiment wherein the seal element isan annular compression-type seal.

Embodiment 5

The arrangement as in any prior embodiment wherein the seal element is aplurality of elements.

Embodiment 6

The arrangement as in any prior embodiment wherein a packer of themandrel is inflatable.

Embodiment 7

The arrangement as in any prior embodiment wherein a packer of themandrel is noninflatable.

Embodiment 8

The arrangement as in any prior embodiment wherein the pressure controlhead and mandrel further include a circulation line runningtherethrough.

Embodiment 9

The arrangement as in any prior embodiment wherein the pressure controlhead and mandrel further include a return line running therethrough.

Embodiment 10

A method for controlling a well at a well head for plugging andabandonment operations including running an arrangement as in any priorembodiment into engagement with a well head, engaging the grippingelement to an outside surface of the wellhead, sealing the seal elementto an inside surface of the well head, and setting a packer of themandrel.

Embodiment 11

The method as in any prior embodiment wherein the engaging the grippingelement is with a groove on an outside surface of the well head.

Embodiment 12

The method as in any prior embodiment wherein the engaging the grippingelement is with an H4 connection.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in thecontext of describing the invention (especially in the context of thefollowing claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and theplural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted bycontext. Further, it should further be noted that the terms “first,”“second,” and the like herein do not denote any order, quantity, orimportance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.The modifier “about” used in connection with a quantity is inclusive ofthe stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., itincludes the degree of error associated with measurement of theparticular quantity).

The teachings of the present disclosure may be used in a variety of welloperations. These operations may involve using one or more treatmentagents to treat a formation, the fluids resident in a formation, awellbore, and/or equipment in the wellbore, such as production tubing.The treatment agents may be in the form of liquids, gases, solids,semi-solids, and mixtures thereof. Illustrative treatment agentsinclude, but are not limited to, fracturing fluids, acids, steam, water,brine, anti-corrosion agents, cement, permeability modifiers, drillingmuds, emulsifiers, demulsifiers, tracers, flow improvers etc.Illustrative well operations include, but are not limited to, hydraulicfracturing, stimulation, tracer injection, cleaning, acidizing, steaminjection, water flooding, cementing, etc.

While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplaryembodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in theart that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substitutedfor elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention.In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particularsituation or material to the teachings of the invention withoutdeparting from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intendedthat the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosedas the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but thatthe invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope ofthe claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have beendisclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specificterms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in ageneric and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation,the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wellhead based well control arrangementcomprising: a pressure control head having a gripping element configuredto grip an outside surface of a well head and a seal element configuredto seal against an inside surface of the same well head; a perforating,packer, and circulation mandrel extending from the pressure controlhead.
 2. The arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein the grippingelement is a ring.
 3. The arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein thegripping element is a plurality of gripping elements.
 4. The arrangementas claimed in claim 1 wherein the seal element is an annularcompression-type seal.
 5. The arrangement as claimed in claim 1 whereinthe seal element is a plurality of elements.
 6. The arrangement asclaimed in claim 1 wherein a packer of the mandrel is inflatable.
 7. Thearrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein a packer of the mandrel isnoninflatable.
 8. The arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein thepressure control head and mandrel further include a circulation linerunning therethrough.
 9. The arrangement as claimed in claim 1 whereinthe pressure control head and mandrel further include a return linerunning therethrough.
 10. A method for controlling a well at a well headfor plugging and abandonment operations comprising: running anarrangement as claimed in claim 1 into engagement with a wellhead;engaging the gripping element to an outside surface of the wellhead;sealing the seal element to an inside surface of the wellhead; setting apacker of the mandrel.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein theengaging the gripping element is with a groove on an outside surface ofthe well head.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein theengaging the gripping element is with an H4 connection.